New Diablo 2 LOD Player Needs Help!

[Lambeth]

First, a couple of issues I need resloved.

1. How do you assign your spells/abilities to hotkeys?

2. How do you increase your character's resistances?


Second, a few questions regarding "how to play".

1. What is the best character for a "newb" to start with?

2. Given the character I would start with, what stats would you recommend boosting and what spells/abilities would you recommend getting early in the game?

3. What is the best strategy to use early on with socketed items and gems (use 'em or save 'em)?

4. What is the best combo of socketed items and gems early on (what gems, if any, should go in my helmet, armor, etc.)?


Thanks for the help! If there is any other advice you would give, please do so! Thanks again.

[Lambeth]

Also, how do you turn "players8" on, so that you can increase your level faster early on?

For that matter, what other cool things can you do similar to "players8"?

Thanks again to all the wise and helpful Diablo players out there!

[washe]

First of all welcome to Techimo...

Issues need resolved..
1. Open the skill box like you normally do, place the mouse cursor in the desired skill and press Function key you want to hot key F1 per example. Im you have a mouse with a wheel, skill hotkeyed on the right button can be changed with the wheel...

2. Caracter resistances well some abilities give resistances but on later levels, you will have to rely on equipment.. Amulets, rings, armor, shields...


The how to play section I will leave to other members more experinced than me... I use a paladin now.... but it depends on the taste you have, you want a melee, ranged or magic caracter depends totally in you..

[Lambeth]

Thanks for the help washe. Like I said, if you have anything else, please post!

So, there is no way to raise your character's resistance outside of skills and items? You should be able to invest level points in them or something...

As for character, I have tinkered with the Paladin, Barbarian, Druid, and Sorceress. I really like the Druid and Sorceress' ability to lay down some heavy elemental magic, but I also like melee combat. The Druid is good at melee combat, but I really dislike his other skills. Lycanthropy is just not my style at all; I respect his summoning powers - useful, but they don't seem strong. The Barbarian, on the other hand, has little elemental powers, so I really don't see myself liking his character in the long run. The Paladin is cool overall, but his magical skills seem to tilt heavily to multiplayer, which is something I won't be doing much of.

If I were to pick right now, I'd probably go for the Paladin or the Druid. Given these two choices, which would be better, and what stats and skills would you focus on?

On a side note to that, is it wiser to wield a shield and a one-handed weapon, or is a two-handed weapon "worth it"? The Paladin has a couple of skills that use a shield, but I've always been a fan of one huge weapon ("shields are for wusses"-style).

[washe]

well i had some time back a barbarian that used a maul, dont remember the name tought was in the very beggining, It was devastating, then made another one wielding two swords with frenzy, he was a killing cow machine ... when i was surrounded with cow a small jump backwards and go go with more cows.... it the only character i was able to clear up the cow level...

I think my current paladin could make it also, Im using basically conversion and thorns aura... cows are melee (at least the last time i played the cow level) so it would do the trick....

You can go to www.gamefaqs.com and look for diablo ii I saw some specific builds for the characters maybe one fits your needs...

Druids are good, last single play game I played i used the druid but used lycantropy path instead of the elemental one.....

[CraigK]

You can't be told what the best newb character is. It's all in individual preferences. I can tell you this, you could make an elemental character, but there are monsters in nm and hell that have resistances.

[Lambeth]

Elemental magic would be regarded, then, as a path not wisely taken?

What areas of skills and strengths, in your opinions, are good ideas for the higher difficulties? From there, I could more easily decide what type of character I would prefer to use.

On another note, I would like to know how to engage "players 8," what all that entails, and other cool things you can do similar to that. For that matter, is it recommended that you play with "players 8"? Thanks for the help!

[CraigK]

I have no idea what "players8" is, so i can't help you there.

Elemental characters aren't bad, don't get me wrong, but you should get a better feel of the game first. They are fun, but IMO they make better party characters. If anything, pickl a character and focus on one skill, and work on that skills synergies.

Don't just pick one character. you'll start out like that anyway, but you will notice after a month or so that you'll have 2 or 3 characters.

[usslindstrom]

Just be careful. Diablo is an EXTREMELY unbalanced game in the later levels. If you are going to use a Paladin like it sounds, then be wise with the skills you choose. They're not easy to play by yourself. That's a character that pays to have party members.

[Dj-Icer]

You should start surfing few cool FAQ's.

[JohnE.]

You enable "players8" by typing "players8" (without the quotes) in the chat window (hit "Enter" for chat window). It only works in single-player (not sure about Open Bnet) and if 8 gets too rough you can type "players6", "players5", etc.

The only other similar command (besides the Multi-player chat related and friends list commands) is "/fps" to display the games Frames Per Second in the upper left corner.

"So, there is no way to raise your character's resistance outside of skills and items? You should be able to invest level points in them or something..."

There is a quest reward that gives you a permanent +10 to all resists for each difficulty level (+10x3 (Normal, Nightmare, Hell) = +30 total). Other than that you have to rely on skills and items.

A few quick tips off the top of my head (without spoiling the game too much I hope):

In the higher difficulty levels you'll need some kind of Elemental damage to defeat Physically Immune monsters. Each character class has certain skills that boost Elemental damage. You'll have to discover which ones are the most effective.

There are Elemental immunes in the higher difficulty levels so pure magic users (Sorceress & Necromancer) will need skills and a strategy to deal with those. Again, you'll have to discover which ones are the most effective.

Paladin specific: (I mostly play the Paladin)

Playing the Paladin using a 2-handed weapon is fine for the early acts (1, II, III, possibly IV & V if you're careful) of Normal but you'll need to switch to a 1-handed weapon + sheild later in the game, especially for Nightmare and Hell (not to do so is suicide).

Early on look for a good (Magic or Rare) War Hammer/Battle Hammer (Zeal combined with Fanaticism helps to overcome the Normal attack speed if you don't get +x% Increased Attack Speed on the item). These Mace class 1-handers generally have higher average damage than a 1-handed War Sword/Ancient Sword.

Look for the best Superior 3 or 4 socket Paladin class-specific sheilds you can find (preferrably with +x% damage) and socket with Perfect diamonds. Almost every other sheild in the game (except the unique "Herald of Zakarum") is worthless to a high level Paladin. Don't bother with rare Paladin sheilds... trade them to noobs for diamonds, lol.

Skills worth investing more than a single point in: Zeal, Charge, Vengeance, Fanaticism, Holy Sheild. Salt & pepper to taste for the remaining skills.

Check out the Arreat Summit for much more information and game tips.

Happy demon hunting!

[washe]

I have been playing with a different paladin build that GohanSSJ metioned... Thorns and Conversion as the main skill... currently my pali gives back with the aura 890% damage back plus conversion get those nasty hard to kill guys to do your dirty job....

Mainly I get one or two monster converted and get back a bit (they get the thorns aura), change to Zeal or Vengeance and strike the other monsters when conversion ends the monster its baddly hurt and it takes two or the strikes to take them down.....
Only problem so far as been ranged and casters... currently playing at Harrogath with out much problems.....

[elmers]

As washe said check www.gamefaqs.com loads of info there. You dont need to worry aout resistance until youve beat the game on normal. Also the code is "/players 8" not "players8" I think. Anyway gamefaqs hall more info thean we could post here.

[geekoid32]

Elemental magic resistances are easily overcome with the masteries. There's a reason why Blizzard put them in there. Second, I like the sorc because I've always been a magic-lover. Mages, witches, sorcerers, ya know...

Anyway, if I had to pick between the two that you mentioned, I'd have to go with the Paladin, but the problem with him is that, like someone said, he gets really unbalanced. If you're more of a balanced kind of guy, Druid is pretty good though.

Hey, nobody has mentioned the Amazon! I guess I will...
In my opinion, the Amazon is more of an intermediate player, and you must have extreme patience at times with her...it...player...Additionally, the Amazon is not exactly the muscular type, but extremely fun to use. Distance fighting and all... The one problem with her though, is that she can become unbalanced in the later parts of the game. At times, she just can't compete with the resistances and stuff online or in hell...

I was reading back and noticed someone say something about what is the best skill to invest in later on. I'll put it this way. Sometimes a level 30 spell can be cool, and sometimes useless in the later parts of the game or online. Even weirder, some of the lower levels are pretty good. You just have to know which one you're sure to go into. Like my first paladin was all wrong, because I had no tactic planned or invested. I soon came to realize I stood little chance in hell. After that lesson, I started checking other stuff out. Same thing with the sorceress. A good thing to remember is that you're there to play, not just to beat it and brag, but to have fun too. Sure you could stick with one thing, but you'll soon find that choosing crazy paths is quite fun. Heck, I even found a good combo that way, lol.